Chinese civilization arose about 4,000 years ago, centered in an area of the Hwang Ho, or Yellow River:The Chinese, who possess the longest continuing civilization the world, for centuries considered theirs the only civilization. Chinese mythology has it that the world began with Pan Ku, the creator, who emerged from a rock. Pan Ku was followed by a series of sages who are credited with having made basic discoveries or inventions, such as agriculture and fire.

The recorded history of China began with the Sharig dynasty 3,500 years ago. The imperial system set up at that time lasted until the early 20th century.

In 1911, the last dynasty, that of the Manchus, was overthrown and a republic was set up under the leadership of Sun Yat‐sen. But the republic was unable to unify China; which was beset by warlordism and civil strife.

After enduring long years of Japanese occupation, which ended with the defeat of Japan in World War II, civil war re‐erupted, with the Communists victorious 1949. A Communist government was proclaimed in Peking on Oct. 1, 1949, by Mao.Tse‐tung. The defeated Nationalists, under Chiang Kai‐shek, established themselves on Taiwan, an island 100 miles east ‘of the China coast.

To a large extent the history of China ‐in the last 150 years or so has been determined by the Western penetration. Pressure by Europeans to gain a foothold in China became an increasingly serious problem from the 18th century on. The Opium War with Britain in 1839 marked the first clear‐cut military defeat of China by a foreign power, a defeat that dealt a crushing blow to Chinese pride.

The disillusion with old values and the desire replace them were in large measure responsible for both the 1911 and 1949 revolutions.

Although the Chinese have an ancient culture, ‘China was a late starter in the modernization process; compared with the other major world powers, revolutionary China is a relatively young society.

PEOPLE

The origins of the people of China remain obscure. Strictly speaking there is no such thing as a Chinese race. Many ethnic groups and many separate centers of primitive culture are believed to have gradually merged to produce the Chinese civilization.

The vast majority of the people in China are Han, the people normally known as Chinese. That name derives from a dynasty that flourished more than 2,000 years ago. About 40 million people, or 5 per cent of the population, belong to ethnic minorities, of which there are many.

The largest minority is the Chuang people, who number seven million and live in Kwangsi. Others are scattered over two‐thirds of the country's land area. Tibet, Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia are the homes of major ethnic groups.

With the advent of Communist rule, vigorous attempts have been made to discredit many of the old beliefs and values, and to transfer the loyalty of the people from the family and'the locality to the party and the state.

Organized religion of the kind practiced in the West has never been popular in China. Instead, the Chinese have for generations practiced a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Under Communist rule, religious worship is officially tolerated but its practice is discouraged.

China occupies a dominant position in Asia, bordering on virtually all countries on the mainland except those the Middle East.

China proper is centered on three great river systems, the Hwang Ho, the Yangtze and the Si Kiang. About half the people live in the Yangtze basin. This concentration is attributed to the fact that most of China is either too dry‐, too hilly or too cold for farming.

The 750 million Chinese, a quarter of.the world's population, live on a land area of‐almost 3.7 million square miles, slightly larger than that of t,he United States. About 85 per cent of the people of. China, the world's most populous country, live in the countryside. The main cities, Canton, Shanghai and Peking, are on or near the Coast. Inland, to the west, much of the country is made up of and mountains or plateaus, where the ethnic minorites, live.

Roughly speaking, the Yangtze, the longest river China, divides the country into north and south. The north consists of plateaus and plains, the south of hills, mountains and basins. Because the terrain in the south inhibits communication, a wide variety of dialects has emerged, especially in the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien.

ECONOMY

Despite great industrial advances in the last 20 years, agriculture remains the base of China's economy. Three every four families are engaged in farming, and agricultural products account for a third of output.

For the most part, the Chinese continue to use age‐old methods of labor‐intensive cultivation. Peasants plow the field behind water buffaloes, much as their forefathers did centuries ago. While more chemical fertilizers are being used, natural fertilizer, mainly human manure, is still intportant.

The grain output has risen to about 240 miEron metric tons a year.

The Government seeks to take advantage of the country's main resource—its huge population. Large‐scale projects, such as dam construction, make use of the vast pools of manpower available. Despite the dense’ population, virtually no unemployment is reported.

Attempts to achieve rapid industrialization, such. as the Great Leap Forward campaign of the nineteen‐fifties, have not met with the hoped‐for success. The Chinese appear to be attempting to develop industry on a local level, with each province trying to achieve self‐sufficiency. But defense‐related industries, such as iron and steel, China pressing forward at a rapid pace.

China's trade with foreign countries is at the level about $4‐billion a year, with Japan being her largest trading partner. This volume is only a fifth that of Japan, whieh has less than a sixth the population of China.

GOVERNMENT

The Chinese Communists adopted a constitution in 1954 that has not been officially revised. According to this constitution, the powers of state are to be shared by the National People's Congress, the country's unicameral legislature, its standing committee, and the chief of state, known as the Chairman of the People's Republic of China. The powers of the National People's Congress, called the only “legislative authority in the country,” are wide theory. It has the authority to “annul decisions and orders of the State Council,” or Cabinet. It is also empowered elect the head of state and his deputies.

In practice, however, the congress wields no significant power, but acts largely as a sounding board for Communist party policy and ratifies decisions. made by the party.

The head of state, according to the constitution, represents the Government in relationships with foreign states and receives their diplomatic representatives. Mao Tse‐tung in 1949 became the first head of state, but he relinquished this position to. Liu Shao‐chi in 1959. Since 1968, when Mr. Liu was purged during the Cultural Revolution, China has been without a functioning head of state. There are two deputy heads of state, Tung Pi‐wu and Soong Ching‐ling, the widow of Sun Yat‐sen.

The constitution provides that the State Council, headed by the Premier, is the executive organ of highest state authority. Chou En‐lai became Premier in 1949 and has retained the position since. Under him, within the State Council, are the deputy premiers and the heads of ministries.

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A version of this archives appears in print on February 23, 1972, on Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Facts About China's People and Long History. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe